Gel polish should hold cleanly for fourteen days and acceptably for twenty-one. If yours is lifting at the corners by day five, that's almost always a prep or aftercare problem rather than the product. Here is the aftercare card I write out for every guest at the bench, fully explained.
Cuticle oil, twice a day, every day.
This is the single non-negotiable. A jojoba-based cuticle oil, swept across the cuticle line and the side wall of each nail, morning and night. The oil keeps the surrounding skin elastic, which keeps the gel from peeling away from the nail edge when you flex your fingers. Skipping it for a week shortens a manicure by about a week.
Nitrile gloves for any wet work.
Soaking nails in hot, soapy water for half an hour at a time is the second most common cause of lifting I see at the bench. Wash the dishes, scrub the bathroom, repot the plants — but do it in nitrile gloves. (Latex weakens too quickly to be useful.)
Drop the bath salts for a fortnight.
Magnesium-heavy bath salts shorten the lifespan of fresh gel. The mineral concentration breaks the cosmetic bond at the nail bed faster than plain water. If you can't imagine a Sunday without them, schedule them on the day before your next appointment, not the day after.
Four habits to drop on day one.
- Picking at lifted edges. If a corner lifts, please come in and let us re-set the nail, free of charge.
- Using your nails as tools. The grip-and-twist on a tin lid is what cracks the gel skin in the centre.
- Filing yourself between visits. Gel polish doesn't shape kindly under a file at home — book a 15-minute reset instead.
- Hand sanitiser straight onto the nail. Apply to palms, rub in, and the gel stays glossy.
Hand cream is not cuticle oil.
Hand cream sits on the surface of the skin. Cuticle oil penetrates the matrix, which is what we need to support nail growth. Use them both — but they're not interchangeable.
When to come back, and when to come in early.
The natural three-week cycle is right for most nails: you'll see growth at the cuticle, but no lifting at the tip. Come back inside fourteen days only if a corner has lifted or chipped — under our two-week guarantee that nail is on us.